Day Off
by Vera The Awesome
Summary: Just when Desarm thinks he can catch a break on a snow day, his mischievous teammates prove him wrong. Burn/Gazel and hints of HiroMido and Desarm/Ulvida, one-shot.


**A/N: Aaahh, finally a proper story! I'm really happy with this one, it's the first piece with a normal fic length and flowing writing style in a while. Everything else I tried recently was short and felt a little forced, I guess I was out of it or something. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot, please leave a review if you do! ^.-**

* * *

Desarm put on his jacket, stepped into a pair of boots, and walked outside into the snow. A blizzard had hit Mount Fuji last night, leaving the mountain white as a sheet. Creating more distance from the giant spaceship that was currently his home, Desarm glanced up and found Aliea Academy was likewise covered in a thick layer of snow. He smiled briefly before taking a few more steps forward, nearing the edge of the cliff and gaining a beautiful view of the frozen lake at the foot of the mountain.

Hands in his pockets, Desarm shut his eyes and inhaled the fresh air. Today was a day off, and he was probably the only one crazy enough to face the cold at 8 in the morning. But Desarm was an early bird, and a light sleeper on top of that. He enjoyed calm sceneries like this: they enabled him to sink away in his thoughts with no one to disturb him. He opened his eyes when a chilly breeze brushed across his face and smiled once more. His hair did a terrific job at serving as both a toque and a scarf. Desarm thought about how it had only been two months since he acquired this particular hairstyle as part of his alien persona. Two more months and he and his siblings should be ready to conquer the world, according to Father.

Desarm let out a sigh as those words echoed in his mind. He had fully adjusted to his position as the ferocious captain of Epsilon, which was actually the easiest aspect of his life as supposed soccer player from outer space. Being one of the oldest as well as the tallest orphans of Sun Garden, he was used to looking out for his younger siblings. But his duty as captain of the first rank was also a problem. Suddenly, more than half of the orphanage was "above him", and he had been strictly assigned to obey the master rank captains' "orders". Burn and Gazel enjoyed the change, of course; they took full advantage of it, being able to boss around their intimidating older brother now. Gran appeared to be neutral, preferring to focus on the competition his colleagues gave him, and Reize was the only one who continued to view him the same.

True, his shy and insecure demeanor had made a total one-eighty – something Desarm didn't think he'd ever get used to – but having been placed below him, the captain of Gemini Storm would continue to give him smiles and thank him for his effort, as he'd always done. Desarm was secretly very relieved about that: Reize in particular meant a lot to him. Over the years, Desarm had grown to love him like a surrogate little brother and continued to treat him as such when they were alone. In public, he was forced to emphasize their difference in ranks with a rude and bossy attitude – much to his regret. He would always apologize afterwards if he had the chance, and Reize let his usual kindness shine through by always forgiving him.

Reize wasn't the only one Desarm was close to, though. If there was one positive side to leading a team, it was getting to bond with them. Inevitably, Desarm had grown closer to his teammates by spending day after day practicing with them, and at this point, it was safe to say he treasured them. That was actually a little odd when he thought about it, seeing as Epsilon was full of pranksters. Desarm had never taken a liking to teasing people, something that turned on him when his friends discovered that very fact. But even when he was often the victim of their silly antics, Desarm couldn't help but love them – because it was clear that they loved him just the same.

Bam. Desarm flinched back to earth when something hit him in the head all of a sudden. Luckily, his dense hair had automatically softened the blow of what he discovered was a snowball. He swiftly turned, inspecting his surroundings with squinted eyes, and demanded: "Who's there?"

No answer. The area was once again dead silent after that one hit. Desarm frowned and started to walk back to the spaceship – only to find that another pair of feet had snuck past the entrance and its footprints seemed to lead to one of the many surrounding piles of snow: ideal hiding spots. Desarm grinned and made his way over when a second snowball punched his right cheek. Hissing in shock, he rubbed off the powder and spun around, again finding no one.

Desarm analyzed the situation before trying to unveil the culprit's location. He had been hit from two different sides, indicating that whoever had it in for him were two people – or one person that was extremely quick on their feet. Whichever applied, Desarm already had a fair idea of who was ambushing him. It was just like his teammates to try and prank him on a snow day. He had even narrowed down the list of suspects: Maquia and Zel were most likely to be behind this. More than once had he scolded them for bullying others, including himself on far too many occasions.

"Maquia, Zel, you can come out," he called, and he proceeded his way to the snow mound. "The jig is up, I know where you're hi—"

Another snowball flew into the back of his head, this time with much more force. Desarm growled, rubbed the sore spot and abruptly ran into the direction the ball had come from. "Enough of this! You better not be thinking this is funny—"

He saw the fourth snowball coming. He shielded the left side of his face and turned to the edge of the cliff, where not Maquia or Zel, but Metron was standing. He tossed up a fresh snowball in his hand and smirked. "Surprised, Desarm-sama?"

"Metron! But that means—" In a fraction of a second, Desarm realized there had to be three people, but it was one fraction too much. Several snowballs suddenly launched at him from behind and he needed to cover his face with both arms when he tried to spot his attackers – who indeed turned out to be Zel and Maquia.

"Good morning, Desarm-sama! Lovely morning to pummel you in snow, isn't it?" Maquia giggled. She and the two boys gave him no chance to reply before resuming their attack. Desarm tried to fend off the snowballs the best he could, but his teammates' arsenal only seemed to be growing rather than reducing. He abruptly spun on his heel and made his way to the nearest snow pile. Knowing he was moments away from being cornered and inevitably defeated, he used the few seconds he had to scoop up as much snow as possible, turning the heap into a mini-fort. He then made as many snowballs as he could and jumped up, grinning daringly.

"Three against their captain, eh? Didn't I teach you to play fair?" Desarm counterattacked and found himself lucky to be the fastest at cropping a handful of snow into a decent snowball. He managed to hit all of his opponents and evade most of their attacks, but he knew they maintained the upper hand as long they stayed in the majority.

Just then, a fifth voice interrupted the snowball fight: "What are you guys doing?" All heads turned and found a skeptic-looking Krypto. Her hands were on her hips, leaving her a wide open target, and Desarm didn't even need to look at the mischievous trio to know they were all carrying the same vicious smirk. He managed to shout "Krypto, duck!" before they started charging her instead. Luckily, the midfielder was quick on her feet and managed to dodge all of their balls. She raced to Desarm's fort and he gave her a smile as he handed out one of his snowballs. "Are you with me?"

"Definitely," she grinned, and the two of them resumed the battle. Desarm found his side was a lot stronger now that he had a partner, but continuing to tower over them in quantity, Zel, Maquia and Metron slowly managed to close in on them. It wouldn't be long before they trapped him and Krypto and were allowed to claim victory.

Luckily, Desarm knew a way to tip the odds in his favor, and it didn't require the coincidental appearance of a sixth player. He caught everyone off-guard by rising and circling his mouth with his hands. "Maquia! I promise I'll make you hot cocoa if you come to my team!"

Confirming his expectations to a T, Maquia squealed at the offer and instantly ran over. "Maquia loves hot cocoa!" she exclaimed, and Desarm smirked as she joined him and Krypto behind the fort. He was well aware she was a lot less biased than she looked – all you needed to get her to your side was an acceptable bargain.

Zel and Metron shot her a glare and Zel called her a double-crosser, but the blue-haired girl simply cackled and filled both hands with a couple of snowballs. Mimicking her actions, Desarm jumped up on his feet and approached the two forwards, followed by his allies. "CHARGE!"

Burn groaned at the shouts and yells that easily reached his room on the seventh floor. He flipped on his stomach, hid his head under a pillow and growled: "Just shut up..."

Gazel, lying right next to him and identically lacking pyjamas, did little more than grin. He had woken even before Desarm, contrasting Burn's habit of sleeping in, but he saw no reason to get out of bed just yet. He enjoyed watching his secret lover's sleeping face and initiating a cuddling session when he was finally awake. Even if he did end up getting bored, he'd simply grab a book and continue to stay by Burn's side – something he could only afford at late nights and early mornings.

"Sounds like they're having fun," the ice captain remarked amusedly. "Perhaps we should join them."

"Drag me out there and die," Burn hissed against the sheets. "It's bad enough that it's so damn cold; if you think I'm taking one step out on this snow-covered mountain, you're out of your mind."

Gazel exhaled a snicker and managed to yank the pillow out of his hands. "That's fine," he answered, reducing his voice to a whisper, "I'm sure we can fill our time in a different way, somehow." He slithered his arms around the redhead's waist and pulled him close, nuzzling his face into his hair. Burn soon gave in to his affectionate gestures by turning on his side and returning the embrace. He pressed a soft kiss to Gazel's lips and whispered back: "I can think of a few ways, _Fuusuke_."

All the way down on the ground floor, someone else was witnessing the snowball fight from the kitchen window. Reize, dressed in pyjamas and a couple of slippers, quietly sipped his tea as he watched Desarm's team turn the tables on Zel and Metron with ease. He twitched when a soft voice wished him good morning from behind.

Reize turned around and looked into Gran's smiling face. Instead of pyjamas, he had changed into casual clothes, and Reize had to admit it was a rare but pleasant sight, having gotten used to seeing him in Gaia uniform on a daily basis.

"Gran-sama," he said formally, bowing in respect, but Gran chuckled lightly and patted his head. "There's no need to be so stiff, Reize. It's a day off, we don't need to assume our alien roles if we don't want to. Besides..." Gran waited until Reize lifted his head to look at him and gave him a mischievous smile. "... do you still intend to apply our different ranks after the several _informal_ things we did...?"

Reize blushed all the way up to his ears. "G-Gran-sama...!" he stammered, causing his superior to give a second chuckle. "It really is too easy to make you blush," he commented with a wink. "That's just one of your many cute aspects."

Reize pouted childishly. He didn't enjoy being called cute, especially when given the supposed compliment in alien mode. Being the captain of Gemini Storm, he had to put up a tough front and tolerate none of that mushy stuff. As Midorikawa, though, luckily allowed to be him today, every single kind word Gran threw his way caused his heart to beat twice as fast. It was only to be expected in the end, considering the fact he was madly in love with him.

"Thank you," he muttered, shyly averting his gaze. He said nothing while Gran went to get his own cup of tea and only perked up when indignant yells drew his focus back outside. He immediately saw why: Desarm had taken on the position of defender by using his Wormhole hissatsu, sucking all of Zel and Metron's snowballs into a vortex so he, Maquia and Krypto remained untouched. There was a little change to it, though: instead of directing the balls at the ground, the second portal sent them straight back to their owners, serving as a canon of which the rapid shots were nearly unavoidable.

"No fair!" Metron complained while he dragged Zel behind one of the snow piles. He then hissed to the other boy: "You're the original goalkeeper, do the same thing!"

"I can't, we'll be too low on offense if I do," Zel pointed out. Metron realized he was right: Zel would have his hands full trying defend them, and seeing as he was a stronger forward than he was a goalkeeper, he might not even be able to mimic Desarm's trick with the altered vortex – leaving only Metron to carry out the attacks. Now that Desarm's group was in the majority, it would take mere seconds before they were completely beaten.

"Dammit," he growled, and he flinched when Krypto's low, eerie voice threatened they were going to be crushed from a way too small distance. He closed his eyes, stressfully pondering what they could do to gain even the smallest chance of victory, and then he eyed his companion with a playful smirk. "I got it!"

Everyone, including Reize, was completely thrown aback when Zel and Metron suddenly leapt out of their hiding place and made straight for their captain. Seeing as he was the key to his team's defense, the priority had shifted to taking him out first. Zel and Metron didn't even bother to attack him with snow balls: as long as they themselves were too heavy to be sucked into the vortex, their captain had no way of fending them off. And they were: by the time Desarm realized they were out to get him, he could barely turn before they shoved him to the ground.

Holding him down by his arms, the pair completely changed their strategy by shouting "Tickle attack!" and ruthlessly suiting the action to the word. Sadly for a madly squirming Desarm, Maquia and Krypto took a liking to that approach and knelt down to help the forwards.

Reize giggled behind his hand as Desarm choked out pleas to stop in between laughter. "Poor Desarm-sama," he smiled. He was glad to see Desarm resort to pleading rather than assume his role as captain and simply order his friends to get off of him. He was clearly having fun, and what's more, the way he played with them was nothing like Desarm at all. Right now it was Saginuma Osamu struggling to block his teammates' wiggly fingers, his kind-hearted older brother that he would've loved to help escape his opponents' merciless tickling. Unfortunately for Desarm, Reize preferred the warmth of his tea and the indoor comfort a little more.

"I haven't seen him like this in a while," Gran commented. He accompanied the second rank captain at the window and took a sip of his tea, quietly watching the group. Reize nodded and his face lit up when Desarm, by some miracle, succeeded in breaking away from his attackers. His freedom didn't last long, though: the moment he was up on his feet, he managed to take one, maybe two steps before Maquia and Zel flew around his neck from behind.

"Oh no you don't!" Zel smirked, and he and Maquia immediately pinned him back to the ground after forcing him down again.

Gran and Reize were so busy watching him resume his position as tickle victim that Burn needed to ask what they were doing before they took note of his presence. They turned and saw him enter the kitchen, Gazel close on his heel.

Gran flashed a smile. "You're up early, Burn. I suppose that's not as surprising as being accompanied by your rival, though."

"Shut it, Gran," Burn barked at him, and Gran innocently hid the lower half of his face by having more of his tea. Burn moved to the counter to make a cup of steaming cocoa and muttered: "As if I could sleep another minute with that racket outside. It was sheer bad luck to bump into the ice queen on my way here on top of that."

"Same goes from me," Gazel retorted from the other side of the kitchen. While he dove into the fridge to grab a bottle of ice cold orange juice, Gran rolled his eyes with a smile. Burn and Gazel had never once managed to fool him about anything – and the chemistry between them wasn't even a challenge to spot.

Although neither of them said another word to their fellow captains, Burn and Gazel eventually went to join them at the window as well. They couldn't deny they were curious to see what was keeping someone like Desarm rolling around in the snow. He was indeed rolling about, squirming in every possible direction to try and avoid his teammates' hands – without success.

"Let's get him undressed so he has to walk naked in the snow!" Metron grabbed one of his boots, but Desarm managed to yank it out of his grip and send a handful of snow in his face in the process.

"If you do that, it's ten extra laps for all of you, and that rule lasts for a week!" he threatened. "And you know I'm serious about it!"

Horrified by the idea of so much extra warming up, Zel, Maquia, Metron and Krypto let down their guard long enough for him to escape. Maquia was the first to recover, darting after him and leaping on his back. Desarm responded with a laugh and hooked his hands under her knees to give her a piggyback ride. His cheeks were red and his hair flowing loosely in the wind after catching so many snowballs, and Burn and Gazel were totally stunned to see him so carefree.

"Is that really Desarm...?" Burn muttered, causing Gran and Reize to let out a snicker.

"If he surprises you that much, you're either very forgetful or haven't been paying attention," Gran smiled. "Saginuma has always been like this – his cheerful attitude just got overshadowed by the cool-headed exterior that comes with leading a team."

"Very much so," Gazel mumbled, keeping his eyes on the dark-haired captain as he tried to dodge the snowballs that flew at him and Maquia with all his might. He and Burn continued to watch them a little longer, but getting bored eventually, they went to prepare breakfast and left the kitchen.

Gran and Reize didn't focus on other things until the Epsilon players called their snow fun quits. They watched their quarrel as to who won (which was never resolved), made their own breakfast and ended up bumping into them just outside the kitchen. Not much to Gran or Reize's surprise, Desarm was the only one who'd bothered to shake the snow off his clothes at the entrance.

"Oh." Desarm sent them a smile and gave Reize a rub on the head. "Morning, Reize, Gran-sama."

"Morning, Desarm," Gran replied while Reize beamed an overjoyed smile at Desarm's motion. Such gestures were rare now that he prioritized being a fierce captain over acting as his big brother. Gran was right: he ought to be grateful for this day off. Tomorrow, kind and gentle Saginuma Osamu would be back to harsh and punctual Desarm.

"Make sure to take a hot shower when you're done with breakfast," Gran advised as he and Reize walked off. "We don't want you catching a cold."

"We will, thank you." Desarm and his friends walked into the kitchen, only to find another person had snuck in there while the two captains were holding them up. Ulvida turned when she heard them enter and raised an eyebrow, finding four out of five were covered in snow – and scattering said snow all over the floor.

"Tch." She turned her back to the group to make a sandwich, causing Zel and Metron to stare directly at her butt. Unlike everyone else, Ulvida was wearing her soccer uniform, something none of the boys seemed to mind. Zel was even bold enough to blow her a wolf whistle, which earned him a death glare not only from the midfielder, but also from his captain.

Desarm hit him over the head and scolded: "Mind your manners." While Zel whined in pain and Maquia, Metron and Krypto snickered at the scene, Ulvida focused on the only Epsilon player that didn't resemble a walking snowman. Desarm perked up when he felt he was being watched and blinked in surprise at the way his superior was eying him. It wasn't the usual stern look she gave others, particularly players below her. It was a soft, curious gaze, and Desarm blushed as he realized it was aimed at only him. Little did he know that Ulvida was observing his long, wavy hair. Even with all the different hairstyles in Aliea Academy, a male with such long hair was very rare. And very captivating. Ulvida had rarely seen them with his hair down back when they lived in Sun Garden, and he always put it in scarf mode in Aliea Academy.

The blue-and-white-haired girl seemed to be the first to realize Desarm's teammates were switching gazes between her and their captain. She cleared her throat to dismiss anything they may be thinking – since it wasn't like she was _interested_ in him or anything – and took her sandwich as she marched out of the kitchen.

"Clean up when you're finished here," she ordered strictly, referring to the melting snow at their feet.

"Yeah, yeah." Metron carelessly waved her off and looked back at his captain, along with his friends. Desarm followed Ulvida with his eyes until she disappeared out of sight, after which they flicked to his shoes and softened shyly.

Maquia giggled and poked him on the cheek. "You're blushing, captain! Do you liiike Ulvida-sama?"

Startled by the accusation, Desarm stared at her in disbelief and promptly reddened further. "O-of course not! Don't spout such nonsense, Maquia!"

"Aha! You're blushing even more! So you do have the hots for her!" Maquia pointed sneakily.

"I didn't know you were into older women, captain," Zel snickered.

"She's only three months older than me!" Desarm barked, and he lashed out to give them another hit to the head, which they both dodged. It was true that Ulvida was the only one surpassing him in age, and secretly that her maturity was one of the aspects he admired about her (among her composure, beauty and strength), but he'd be damned before blabbing that to his teammates.

When Maquia made another teasing remark, Desarm started to chase her around the kitchen, red-faced and demanding she stop mocking her captain. In the meantime, Zel, Metron and Krypto took a seat at the table, knowing that when he was done pursuing the mischievous girl, he wouldn't only make her, but all of them a cup of hot cocoa – because the captain of Epsilon was just that nice.


End file.
